To be sure, Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn didn’t anticipate opening the act’s live U.S. debut with an apology. Yet there he was, center stage on the opening night of a six-night stand at Harlem’s storied Apollo Theater, curtain closed, mic in hand, explaining how the world’s most famous virtual band was experiencing problems with its video screens, and as a result would not be using any animation.

A mere drag for most artists, it was a blunder of vaguely massive proportions for Gorillaz. While opening night felt a bit half-delivered, the musical performances shined nevertheless, the full performance of Demon Days was peppered with enough hipster heroes and charm to overcome any technical mishaps.
Playing piano and singing at the back of the stage for all but one song, Albarn buried himself behind a string section, backing vocalists and a full band on a stage that swelled to more than 40 people at times. While Neneh Cherry, De La Soul, Ike Turner, the Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder, Roots Manuva and others all reprieved their studio-recorded roles live, it was the Pharcyde’s Bootie Brown and the aw-shucks sweetness of a local kids choir on “Dirty Harry” that brought the grinning crowd to its feet. The odd pairing of the forever mischievous Ryder and leggy hottie Rosie Wilson on “DARE” was massive, and De La Soul’s “Feel Good Inc.” cameo was cool, if corny.

The performance, and especially the songs mentioned above, heated up on night two in Harlem. With the center screen up and operational, things moved at twice the pace. Adult choir performances and Albarn’s solo-piano songs, which teetered on dull the night before, came to life through vivid, supernatural storylines on the overhanging screen—also where a taped performance of MF Doom and moving in-the-studio footage of late Buena Vista Social Club great Ibrahim Ferrer came to life.